


in between

by illyrias



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-05 11:06:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12793254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illyrias/pseuds/illyrias
Summary: Lena is still stuck somewhere between wonder and disbelief when the baby in her arms finally opens her eyes.“Oh,” Kara gasps beside her, and Lena can hear the awe in her voice. “She has your eyes.”Or the one where they realize that Rhea succeeded in producing the heir she wanted, and Lori Luthor tumbles her way into Lena's life.





	1. Chapter 1

When Jess announces that a Miss Danvers is here to see her, the last thing Lena expects is Alex Danvers walking into her office, a grim smile on her face.

She and Alex may have gotten closer in the past few months thanks to their occasional girls night at Kara’s apartment, but Alex never visits her office unless it’s for official – and often unpleasant – business. She mentally steels herself as she stands to greet the woman.

“Is she alright?” The first question leaves her mouth immediately. Kara’s name goes unsaid – Alex understands who she’s asking about. She relaxes slightly when Alex nods. “Did my mother do something again?”

“No, no, this isn’t something concerning your family. It’s about Rhea, and, well, you. No one’s hurt, and it’s nothing _bad_ , per se, but it’s big, and we need you down at the DEO.”

 

* * *

 

“Lena,” Alex pauses, hesitating. “Did Rhea ever mention anything about children? When she forced you to marry Mon-El?”

At that, Lena’s eyes snap up to meet Alex’s, and she freezes. “They found a child?” She asks quietly, even though she already knows the answer.

Alex very calmly explains the whole situation: Daxamites and Kryptonians reproduce by placing the parental DNA in a pod-like machine. The DEO found an empty pod after the Daxamite invasion – didn’t know what it was, but ran it through the normal scans to make sure it was safe – and stored it. The pod started beeping in the storage room in the afternoon, and they realized what was happening.

Kara holds her hand throughout the entire thing; laces their fingers together and squeezes her hand gently whenever she starts to panic.

“Our scans didn’t detect anything back then because it was too early; Rhea only just put the DNA in. But yes, there’s a child.” Alex finishes quietly.

Lena nods, unable to find words to say. Kara immediately pulls her into a hug.

“I’ll be okay,” She whispers, voice wavering, even though she doesn’t know how to feel or what to do. Kara doesn’t reply, only hugs her tighter.

They are in the conference for less than fifteen minutes – her and Alex and Kara – but by the time she leaves, her world is turned upside down.

 

* * *

 

The baby is so small.

She knows, logically speaking, that this is the normal size of a newborn, but now that the child is in her arms, she seems so tiny and fragile.

“Hi, baby,” She tells the child, because she doesn’t really know what else to say. Alex chuckles.

She’s still stuck somewhere between wonder and disbelief when the baby in her arms finally opens her eyes.

“Oh,” Kara gasps beside her, and Lena can hear the awe in her voice. “She has your eyes.”

 

* * *

 

Kara flies out to buy them dinner, and Lena enters the conference room to see boxes of takeout from her favorite restaurant – the one Kara doesn’t exactly like but follows her to occasionally anyway.

“Figured you could use some comfort food. Not that this is real comfort food,” Kara wrinkles her nose playfully at the salads, and it makes Lena laugh despite the worry sitting heavy in her chest. She’s grateful for Kara – for being a constant in Lena’s life even when the rest of her world is upturned.

They mostly eat in silence. It’s not something they commonly do, but there’s a lot on both their minds, and the quiet that settles between them is comfortable.

“Hey Lee,” Kara says, after she’s done with her food. The crinkle that forms at her eyebrow tells Lena she’s worried about something.

“Hmm?”

“You know it’s okay if you’re not ready right?” The hesitation in Kara’s voice is clear, as if she’s nervous she’s overstepping the boundaries. They are best friends, but this – this child – it’s new territory for both of them, and family’s always been a sensitive topic. “It’s just, no one’s asked you if you’re okay with this, and I understand if you’re not, and it’s not your fault if you’re not ready for it. You know that right? It won’t make a difference, and we will still love you. We won’t judge you if you say you’re not ready, okay?”

“I want her,” Lena tells her quietly, voice soft but firm. “I just- she’s my child. I want her. But everything is happening so quickly and it’s almost- it’s like half of me doesn’t even believe she’s real yet.”

It’s hard trying to put her emotions into words, but Kara nods, reassuring Lena that she understands what she’s feeling and what she’s trying to see.

“Okay,” Kara says simply, “then she’s yours. And we’ll figure out the rest tomorrow. Together.”

 

* * *

 

The baby stays at the DEO for the next three weeks so that they can monitor her for any complications that might arise from her half-human half-alien parentage, or from the fact that she was growing in a pod without any supervision. The doctors and nurses at the DEO take to calling her Baby Luthor, and it sticks.

Lena leaves Sam in charge of LCorp and James in charge of CatCo, and spends most of her days in the DEO instead. J’onn allows her to set up a temporary office in one of the conference rooms near the medical wing, and any work she has to do, she does there.

She develops an odd sort of routine in the three weeks. She tries to manage as much as she can for LCorp and CatCo from the DEO, but Sam and James are very capable and often chase her away when she tries to offer extra help. She ends up spending her free time in the DEO labs, working on anti-kryptonite technology and a red sun prototype together with Winn and Alex.

She feeds the baby every two hours when she’s at the DEO, because the nurses tell her that it’s good to set up a schedule. And she talks. Not baby talk like in movies, because she knows what’s important is mainly the vibrations that the baby feels through the voice, but she talks.

She feels a little stupid at times, holding a bottle and a baby and talking to her about work and science and whatever else comes to her mind, but sometimes the baby smiles a little or makes a sound at the appropriate time, and it seems as though the tiny infant knows exactly what she’s saying. It makes Lena smile a little too, sometimes.

Who knows? The baby’s half-alien. And Kara did say she started doing science at age two.

Kara usually joins her at least once or twice a day, when she’s not busy saving the city. Occasionally, she runs in brandishing a new hat or blanket or shirt, telling both Lena and the baby excitedly about how she spotted it in a shop while out flying, and _had to buy it because it was so cute, look at it!_

Half the things Kara buys are too big for the small baby, but Lena lets her tug it on anyway, smiling at how adorable the baby looks.

 

* * *

 

She names the baby Lorelei, and Kara giggles at how it starts with an L.

“Why Lorelei?” Kara asks afterwards.

“It’s what my name nearly gave me for my middle name. My real mom, I mean. So I’ll have a part of her with me too.” She admits.

“I think it’s pretty. Also, you have a middle name?!”

“Shh, Kara. Lori for short, what do you think? Lorelei is a little long.”

“Isn’t lory a type of bird? Also-“

“Don’t call my daughter a bird, Kara. That’s rude.”

 _My daughter_ feels a little strange coming out of her mouth, but it makes her feel a certain sense of warmth inside, and she laughs as she walks out of the door.

“Lena! You have to tell me your middle name! Lena!!”

 

* * *

 

She should ask Kara to move in with her.

The idea hits her suddenly one afternoon. Lori is half asleep in her arms, still sucking on the bottle that Lena is holding up.

She squashes the idea down immediately – it would be unfair, and unrealistic to expect that of Kara. Kara has already done so much to help her these two weeks; she doesn’t want to impose on Kara’s personal life as well.

But her mind refuses to let her forget about it.

Objectively, it has its benefits. She’s pretty sure she’s going to need some help taking care of Lori, especially in the first few months, and, oh, what is she going to do when Lori starts developing powers? Plus, after spending almost 24/7 with her best friend these few weeks, she kind of doesn’t want to go back to only seeing her during lunch or dinner.

Kara notices how quiet she is during dinner, and asks her what’s bothering her while stuffing her mouth with potstickers.

“Move in with me?” She blurts out, and her eyes widen. Immediately, she tries to fumble out an explanation. “I mean, for the first few weeks after Lori moves in. I don’t know if I could take care of her alone, and I wouldn’t know what to do when her powers come in. It’s alright if you don’t want to, I just-“

“I’d love to,” Kara stops her, smile growing. “Oh Rao, Lena, that’s a great idea, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Oh,” Lena says, a little unsure about how to respond since she was sure she ruined their friendship a little when she blurted out that question. Beside her, Kara grins.

“Are you free this weekend?” Kara asks suddenly. smile growing wider when Lena nods. “Okay, I’m stealing you then. We’re going shopping, roomie!”

Laughing, Kara grabs her hand and drags her out of the room. Lena cannot help but smile. Maybe everything will turn out just fine.

 

* * *

 

They go shopping that weekend.

Lena makes a checklist of all the things they need to buy for Lori in hopes that it’ll keep them focused. It doesn’t help.

They spend an hour just picking a bed.

(“Lee! Pick the princess bed! Look at it, it’s so cute!”

“I don’t know, don’t you think it’s a little big? And isn’t she a little too young for this bed?”

“No one is too young to be a princess,” Kara scoffs.

“If you want to be a princess, you can just say so, you know? You don’t have to live vicariously through my daughter.”

“Lena!”)

She ends up buying a very practical crib, and Kara pouts until Lena relents and gives her permission to decorate it.

Shopping takes the entire day, because they both get spectacularly distracted. She swears Kara is a bad influence – if she had done it alone, it would probably have taken half the time – but when Kara tells her that she’s a _bad influence but for the better_ , Lena finds herself laughing and agreeing.

 

* * *

 

Kara moves in a few days before they bring Lori home.

“Your room, Miss Zor-el,” She says playfully as Kara stares, jaw slack in surprise, at the huge new four-poster bed in what used to be Lena’s guest room.

“This is new,” Kara points at the bed suspiciously.

“Only the best for you,” Lena smiles, innocent for a second, then gives Kara a smirk. “Princess.”

“Lena!”

She darts out of the room, laughing, only just missing the pillow that Kara throws in her direction.

 

* * *

 

“Are you nervous?” Kara asks.

“Very,” Lena admits.

Lori’s coming home with them the next day, and Lena doesn’t really know what to expect.

Kara sticks her spoon into the ice cream tub and places it on the coffee table, then reaches out to put an arm around Lena.

“Well, you’ll always have me.”

Lena thinks about how much her life has changed in three weeks – she has a daughter now, and her best friend is living with her – and despite her nerves, everything feels _right_ , and it all fills her with a sense of warmth.

She reaches up to lace her fingers with the hand over her shoulder, then leans her head on Kara’s shoulder. “Yeah, I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just really love kidfics a lot :') anyway, drop me a comment or talk to me on tumblr at katiemcqrth! i'd love to hear what you guys think!


	2. Chapter 2

Lori is a noisy baby. Not in the crying sense – thank god – but she giggles and coos and makes baby noises all day. It’s admittedly quite adorable, and Lena’s tiny little daughter immediately wins the heart of everyone they meet.

“Miss Luthor,” The doorman at her apartment greets her, then smiles as he tips his hat at the bundle in her arms. “Little Miss Luthor.” Lori babbles along as Lena returns the greeting, and the doorman’s smile widens.

“Hi Lori!” Jess says brightly as soon as she exits the elevator at LCorp. “Good morning, Miss Luthor,” Jess says next, and Lena laughs and jokes that Jess has become more Lori’s secretary than her’s.

The DEO is no different. Agents rush to her side whenever she arrives for Lori’s scheduled checkups, or to leave her daughter with Alex or J’onn when she needs to go somewhere further for work and Kara’s busy. “Baby Luthor, look at you! You’ve grown so much!” They whisper excitedly, and when Lori giggles happily, the _awwww_ ’s only grow louder.

The first time Kara sees how excited the DEO agents get around Lori, she knocks her head against Lena’s shoulder and groans. “Oh Rao, she’s charming the pants off all of them,” she mutters. As an afterthought, she lifts her head off her best friend’s shoulder and declares, “She definitely got that from you.”

 

* * *

 

It takes almost three months before the press gets hold of the news – sooner than she would have liked, but longer than she expected.

She’s already discussed this with the DEO, and once the headlines start coming up, she crafts a statement together with Kara and releases it. The statement doesn’t reveal much, just confirms that the child is in fact hers. She lets the public take what they want from that.

After that, it’s about _controlling the narrative_ , Kara tells her, and she agrees to do an interview and photoshoot with CatCo. The interview is easy; Kara comes up with a list of questions and they talk over dinner. It’s the photoshoot she worries about, until Kara tells her that they can do an informal one – they can stay at the apartment, and James will just photograph them candidly and naturally.

After the article is published, James sends her all the photos he took that day. Lena picks her favorite one, prints it, and puts it in the picture frame on her table. In the photo, Lena is laughing, holding Lori in her arms as Kara struggles to pull an oversized beanie onto the baby’s head.

The picture is candid and beautiful, and, oh, she’s never seen herself look so genuinely happy.

 

* * *

 

The first evidence of Lori’s powers appears in how fast she’s developing.

Her above-average strength means she’s barely five months old when she starts pulling herself up into a standing position. Kara comes home the next day with pizza and cake and half a carton of ice cream, and declares that they need to celebrate Lori’s major milestone.

“Kara, Lori can’t eat any of this,” Lena laughs when she hears Kara’s logic.

“Well,” Kara pouts, “It’s the thought that counts.”

They give Lori a spoonful of ice cream in the end, after much hesitation on Lena’s part, and a very convincing ‘ _she’s half-alien, Lena, she’s not going to get sick, do I look like I ever get sick from eating ice cream?’_ argument from Kara.

It becomes a pattern from then on. Every time Lori achieves something new, they celebrate. It’s something Lena’s hardly ever experienced growing, and it’s something she’s determined that Lori will have.

 

* * *

 

Lori’s first word, much to Lena and Kara’s amusement, is _no_.

Lena’s trying her best to get Lori to eat the spinach mash for dinner, but Lori has decided to stage a protest. The little dark-haired girl in the high chair clamps her mouth shut and squirms, leaning her head as far back as she can reach to avoid the spoonful of green stuff.

“C’mon, Lori, you have to eat your dinner,” Lena sighs. She’s tried putting some of the spinach mash in her own mouth to prove that it tastes good, but the little girl still refuses to open her mouth. She’s even tried the airplane trick – which she still finds kind of awkward – but Lori keeps her mouth stubbornly shut and only whines again.

“Nuh!” The little girl shouts, scrunching her face up and pushing the hand with the spoon away with her own.

Lena’s eyes immediately widen, and she turns her head to face Kara, only to see that the blonde’s expression mirrors her own. “It’s probably- she’s probably just making noises, right?” Lena asks.

Before Kara can answer, however, Lori loudly protests again. “Nuh!” The little girl declares in frustration, and then proceeds to knock the spoon out of a still-distracted Lena’s hand, grinning when it clatters onto the dining table.

“Oh, my god,” Lena mutters. She stares at Lori, who only smiles impishly back at her in triumph.

“Nuh!” Lori shouts again, now smiling and staring at the splattered mess of green stuff on the table, waving her own hands around happily.

The two adults continuously stare at the girl, until finally, Kara breaks the silence, turning to Lena with an amused smile painted on her lips. “Well, clearly she inherited your stubbornness.”

“Excuse me,” Lena says, indignantly. “This one’s your fault. You’re the one who always shouts _no_ as soon as I put vegetables on the table.”

Lori, looking between Kara and Lena, only starts giggling.

Later, as Lena cradles Lori and slowly lulls her to sleep, she strokes the little girl’s hair and presses a kiss to her forehead.

“My darling, you probably don’t understand me yet, but I’m so proud of you. You’re growing up really fast, huh?” She whispers. “I love you so much.”

Lori only smiles sleepily and wraps her fingers around Lena’s thumb.

 

* * *

 

The Battle for Lori’s Affection starts after Kara tells the rest about Lori starting to call Lena Mama. The Superfriends try to compete with each other to see who the first person Lori is going to call is, and their competitiveness both amuse and exasperate Lena.

“Say Aunt Alex, Lori, say Aunt Alex!” Alex tries to tempt Lori using a spoonful of chocolate ice cream. Lori reaches for the spoon a few times but gives up when she realizes Alex is not going to directly give it to her. Instead, she swipes the entire tub off the table when Alex turns around, and proceeds to dip her fingers into the dessert.

“Uncle James, Lori, say un-cle-jae-m-s. Can you do that?” James has the added advantage of using his height and his build to give Lori piggyback rides around the apartment, but instead of responding as asked, Lori only laughs and excitedly tells James to _go, go, fast!_

And so it goes on, for weeks, until Kara finally sends a video to the group chat announcing that she’s won the battle.

In the video, Lori is standing outside Kara’s closet, holding a very familiar pile of red and blue clothing.

“Soop-girl?” Lori asks Kara, confused, then looks between Kara and the costume again. “Ka’a, soop-girl?”

“Uh, no kiddo, I’m not Su-“

“Ka’a, Soop-girl!” Lori declares, and then runs out of the room as fast as she can to look for Lena, dragging the costume behind her all the while.

The comments on the group chat transition from complaining about Kara’s unfair advantage of living with Lori, to sheer exasperation and disbelief that she couldn’t even hide her secret identity from a nine-month-old child.

“It’s not my fault she went through my closet! She’s half-alien, half-genius!” Kara says indignantly the next time she steps into the DEO to see Alex, Winn and J’onn looking at her skeptically.

“Whatever you say, Kara, whatever you say.”

 

* * *

 

Lori learns fast – to no one’s surprise at all, after the Kara Is Supergirl incident – but what constantly catches Lena and Kara off guard is the things that Lori chooses to pick up.

“Lori, why are you wearing those?” Lena laughs when Lori climbs onto the sofa to sit beside her, book in hand and baby sunglasses on her face. Lori stares at Lena for a moment, then wordlessly reaches up and pats the glasses perched on Lena’s nose. Lena laughs again and takes a photo of the little girl before carefully removing the sunglasses.

“Nuh?” Lori asks, confused.

“No, my darling, these are glasses,” She points to the spectacles on her face, and then to Lori’s sunglasses on the table. “And these are sunglasses. See, the lenses, these things, are black. Sunglasses are for going out in the sun.”

A few days later, when the pizza delivery arrives, Lori loudly shouts “You ma fav'ote!"

Lena's confused, but decides that Lori's probably just exploring new words or sounds and ignores it. It's not until Kara flies in through the window later and immediately lights up at the smell of pizza that Lena starts to realize what Lori said.

"Pizza! Oh Lee, you're my favorite!" Kara declares excitedly, promptly pulling out a piece.

"You ma fav'ote!" Lori copies excitedly, clapping her hands.

"Oh Rao!" Kara says, taken aback when she hears the words leave the little girl's mouth.

"Oh 'Wao!" Lori giggles.

Over the course of the next few weeks, they realize that Lori’s learnt to run around with a cape (towel) around her shoulders like Kara, tip her (usually imaginary) hat like the doorman at Lena place, and, very unfortunately, attempt to send people (Kara) to time out like Lena occasionally does to her.

Lena concludes that nothing Lori does should surprise them anymore, but somehow, the little girl still manages to.

She’s in her home office working when Lori toddles in and then crawls under the table to climb up her chair.

“Yes, my darling, do you want to help me with my work?” Lena chuckles. She removes a hand from the keyboard and instead wraps the arm around Lori to secure her.

 “Work!” Lori echoes, but mostly ignores Lena’s question as she pulls herself up using Lena’s shoulders to stand on Lena’s lap. And then, she clumsily knocks her lips onto Lena’s forehead. Lena freezes, but the little girl on her lap doesn’t notice.

“’Ove you, Mama!” Lori shouts excitedly, and then proceeds to attempt to kiss Lena on the forehead again. Lena only realizes what’s happening when Lori then rubs her hands on Lena’s face, just like Lena always does after she kisses her daughter in case there are any lipstick smudges.

She feels the tears starting to well up in her eyes, but she ignores them in favor of hugging her daughter tight. She presses a kiss to Lori’s forehead, like she always does, like Lori did to her moments ago.

“Love you, Lori,” She whispers, tender and fierce all at once. The little girl in her arms beams back at her – proud of what she’s learnt to do – and _god_ , Lena loves her so, so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some of y'all asked if lori is both lena and kara's child, and i'd like to clarify that she's not, biologically or otherwise! anyway, this was mostly a filler chapter but i hope y'all enjoyed it :) drop me a comment to tell me what you think, or come talk to me on tumblr at katiemcqrth!


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